Perth Scorchers made the most of their fortuitous home semi-final, jumping Sydney Thunder at the start and then bowling tigerishly to successfully defend 148 and advance to the decider of the Women’s Big Bash League on Sunday. Much had been made of the fact the second-placed Thunder and first-placed Sydney Sixers have been compelled due to the WBBL/BBL double-header finals to play away to the lower-ranked Scorchers and Adelaide Strikers, and the West Australian side enjoyed home support in emerging victorious at the new Perth Stadium.

Nicole Bolton and the Scorchers captain Elyse Villani certainly made themselves at home in an opening stand worth 65 after the Thunder captain Alex Blackwell chose to bowl. By contrast, the Thunder were to start their pursuit disastrously, slipping as low as 5 for 46 when Stafanie Taylor was dismissed in the face of some high-quality overs from Bolton, Piepa Cleary and offspinner Emma King. From that horrid beginning, the Scorchers were always heavily favoured, and cruised home despite the best rearguard efforts of Fran Wilson.